I've said it before and I'll say it again...the world was a whole lot safer when there was a Soviet Union.
Why? They kept the eastern part of the world "in check", and we kept the Western part of the world in check. With their "draconian" system in place, it kept this hemisphere alot safer than what it is today....at least the Russian Mafia wasn't as rampant as it is today. And, we could keep "tabs" on their KGB agents a whole hell of a lot easier. They didn't have NOC's under the guise of "business people" roaming the streets in every major and mid sized city in the U.S.
The last two year's while I've been on vacation in North Carolina, I've noticed alot of Russians, Belarussians, and Ukrainians in the area's surrounding the Research Triangle(and I've seen at least one or two on EVERY trip I've made down to Raleigh in the past 3 years) and in Eastern North Carolina. Coincidently, they seem to be concentrated in the areas around...Fort Bragg, Seymour-Johnson A.F.B, Camp Lejeune, and Cherry Point M.C.A.S. and are working as retail "business people." Hmmm?
I used to be fluent in Russian back in my college and early military days, but am quite rusty at it now, but when I do happen to use it on my business trips to Raleigh, you should see the stunned look on the faces of these folks. I especially like to hear them make some comment about someone, or something, and then to see the look in their eyes when I start to laugh, or make a comment back to them in RUSSIAN! They just about "piss" on themselves...they usually stop communicating to each other in Russian too!
Dos Vedonya!
The Jackal
To all: I can guarantee you, that for every "Sanctioned" agent operating under the guise of "diplomat", that there are AT LEAST 2-5 NOC's operating in the vicinity.
Just another valid argument for why we should NEVER lose our vigilance in the "spy" game. That's what happens EVERYTIME you have a "liberal" administration like that we had to endure during the Clinton years.
It didn't help that the Soviet Union went the way of the dinosaur either...we have this "altruistic" ignorance about us here in the U.S. We tend to think, well, there not our enemies anymore so we can "stand down" our intelligence networks. Well, the reality is, when you are the "Big Dog", EVERYONE is trying to knock you down! Period!
How do you think that the Chinese became the emerging economic power it is in such a short period of time? Because the lack of due dilligence on the part of the FBI and CIA under the Clinton administration basically handed them "the keys" to the car in technology based "systems" in the 90's!